Throughout the past week the best 12/u and 14/u Australian juniors have converged on the Canberra Tennis Centre to battle it out in the 2017 Australian Claycourt Championships.
Western Australia was represented by a strong contingent of 17 players, who were all looking to build upon the success achieved at last year’s championships.
With the singles finals of the 12/u and 14/u boys and girls being played today, Western Australia was fortunate enough to be represented in 3 out of the 4 events.
In the 12/u girls final, West Australian 4th seed Jessie Culley (Cottesloe TC), came up against 2nd seed Zahra Arthur (VIC). Heading into the match against a higher ranked opponent, Jessie had her work cut out for her, however it was apparent after the opening few games that Jessie had carried her great form into the final with her. With Jessie’s trademark forehand proving too much to handle for her opponent, she took control of the lead and then the match, finishing strongly to come away with the win 6-2, 6-3.
Zach Viiala (Dalkieth TC) was the West Australian representative in the 12/u boys final, with the No. 1 seed heading into the tournament as the hot favourite. Coming up against the unseeded Andre Filip (NSW) in the final Zach needed just one more win to top off what was a great tournament for him. Zach started in a similar manner to his compatriot in the girls draw, jumping out to a strong lead early and taking the first set in no time. However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing, with his opponent fighting back heroically in the second set to take it all the way to a tiebreak. After a shaky start to the tiebreak, Zach took control and closed out the match 6-3, 7-6(5).
West Australia’s third representative was the 14/u boys 5th seed, Derek Pham (Lesmurdie TC). Derek experienced an exceptional run to the 14/u boys final, in which the 13yr old took down opponents both older and higher ranked them himself. On the final day in Canberra, Derek found himself coming up against the 1st seed, Cooper White (VIC). The match was hotly contested, with the lead changing multiple times throughout the course of the final. Unfortunately, Derek was fighting an uphill battle against a more polished opponent, going down valiantly in the end 4-6, 4-6.
It was a great week of tennis for all the WA representatives, topped off by the fact that WA had a representative in 3 out of the 4 singles finals.
Congratulations to Western Australia’s newly crowned National Claycourt Champions Jessie Culley and Zach Viiala.
Final congratulations must be given to all of the talented players who represented Western Australia over the past week.
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